Provided by the animator…

… simply wonderful!

While it’s technically the second time I have seen a Reprap in the flesh (I saw one in Boston last year) today was the first time I saw one running. A seriously cool piece of technology.

A Rep Rap
Originally uploaded by flash5.

I was collecting my photos together and I am now convinced that NZ is a real hot bed for the digital manufacturing game and Wellington especially.

It’s funny, you create something and there are applications you dream of… with me and Ponoko it was robotics… the first robot has walked off the production line:

For extra awesomeness there is an associated instructable and youtube videos.

Fantastic work Clement Fletcher.

…should you feel guilty for torturing and killing a robot?

Can’t say that video was any more enjoyable to watch than if it was a flesh and blood entity.

A little while ago I posted a video of the robotic arm that has been created by Dean Kamen and his team. Ryan from hawaiigeek.tv forwarded a segment from a presentation Dean Kamen made in the last couple of days:

A little while back I linked to a story about the ‘3 Laws’ and the Korean robotics industry. Zef raised an interesting question about military devices. It turns out that there is some thought about the laws governing military robotics:

• Let machines target other machines
• Let men target men

src: /.

Mr Kamen and his team have done it again by the looks of things, creating something that is transformational for it’s users:

src: digg

The South Koreans are putting together a Robot Ethics Charter:

An ethical code to prevent humans abusing robots, and vice versa, is being drawn up by South Korea.

The Robot Ethics Charter will cover standards for users and manufacturers and will be released later in 2007.

…

The new guidelines could reflect the three laws of robotics put forward by author Isaac Asimov in his short story Runaround in 1942, she said.

Asimov’s three laws are:

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

Later stories saw the introduction of the Zeroth Law:

“A robot may not harm humanity, or, by inaction, allow humanity to come to harm.”

For me this is really interesting because it is an example of the sorts of ideas put forward by Bill Joy many years ago. Poo-poo’d at the time I am very confident that these are ideas that will gain a lot more currency - not taking responsibility has been shown to be a failed business strategy (when judged on metrics like longevity and sustainability).

My sister’s family got me this for my birthday:

Lego Robot

Other than the fact that it is a robot with bits that glow (which in itself is very cool) it is Lego. I was really surprised how enjoyable I found it… that childhood delight of hunting and pecking for the right pieces in the lolly-scramble of plastic. This time around I had the added “educated” joy of being able to appreciate the engineering and the instruction manual.

It is seriously impressive to see the thought and design that has gone into this little fellow. Fiendishly complex things like making him stand up-right, posable AND allowing for it to be constructed by kids are rendered artfully in a simple package. As a kid I had a surface appreciation for the instruction manuals… now they kind of blow my mind. Again it is the complex rendered simple… all the while avoiding written words! The use of color, shape and thoughtful steps create an articulate visual language which the reader “gets” quickly. Simply amazing!

The robot has now been banished to the computer desk because the coffee table has been designated, by the Missus, as the sole domain of the dragon. A dragon v. robot battle has also been declared, in no uncertain terms, a non-starter as well. Honestly though, I would have problems pitting the two against one another… the dragon is too cute for the battle arena.

Ars Technica have put together a great review of the Lego NXT product… it does look very very cool:

The good:

• Almost 600 pieces
• Sensors that actually work
• Programming system easy enough to let Grandma build a ‘bot
• The X factor: fun to use

The bad:

• You can link four robots, but it will cost you $1,000
• Three motors don’t go far when your robots can drive
• Little available memory in the NXT brick
• Does not include a death ray

The ugly:

• The meals I would have missed as a child while playing with this